State Memorial Museum of the Defense and Siege (Blockade) of Leningrad

About museum

On April 30, 1944, the museum "Heroic Defense of Leningrad" was opened in Solyanoy Gorodok. The first visitors were former front-line soldiers, besieged residents and other participants in the events. Over the next five years more than a million people visited. In 1989 the museum was revived after the so‑called "Leningrad Affair", which had led to the complete destruction of the previous museum. In 2018–2019 a scientific restoration was carried out and a new exhibition was opened with key themes: battles on the Leningrad Front, transport across Lake Ladoga, and life in the besieged city. The museum's collection currently holds over 53,000 exhibits: graphic works, paintings, sculptures, manuscript and documentary materials, household items, photographs, orders, medals, badges, pieces of equipment and weaponry, as well as books published during the years of the blockade. The museum's network of branches is gradually expanding.